Fight Path: Kevin Engel balancing the worlds of boxing and MMA

It was 12 years ago when Kevin Engel, whose promising football career was stopped in high school by appendicitis, needed to find some reason for contact.

That had always been one of his favorite parts about the game, when it came down to man-on-man and the ability to make a hit. He was good at it, too.

There was a skilled fighter from Engel’s part of St. Louis, Jesse Finney, who had a gym that taught kickboxing, a sport in which Finney has a 23-0 record. Engel wandered down to the gym, signed up and started the first of what would become several kinds of fighting in which he would find success.

“It was athleticism and aggressiveness,” Engel told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I liked the contact, and I liked the way everything worked. It was a good fit for me.”

And now, Engel continues to compete in two of those sports. An MMA professional since June, the 32-year-old has compiled a 2-0 record and meets Travis Sveum (7-5) on Saturday in a 170-pound bout at Shamrock Fighting Championships in St. Louis.

Meanwhile, he continues to train and fight in boxing, in which he is 20-6. By straddling the two worlds, Engel stands as an example of benefits and strains fighters find by competing in both sports.

For now, there’s more money for him in boxing, but there’s probably more opportunity in MMA. He would like to concentrate on MMA, but he also has enjoyed his boxing career, and he continues to need the money to mix with his bar manager job to help provide for his young family.

In a 30-minute conversation earlier this week, Engel covered several interesting aspects of balancing both sports, including the expectations in both and the way a fighter’s career is planned. On Saturday, he will continue his hot MMA start that has others encouraging him to focus more on that career.

“I want to do both as long as I can,” he said. “For me right now, it’s more of a money thing. I want to do MMA, but I need to get to the point where I’m making the same money.”

National success

Engel’s early interest in combat sports can be attributed to his father. A conservation department worker, his father also was a black belt in judo, a sport he took to growing up.

By the time Engel was 6 or 7 years old, his father was taking him along for judo training. He even picked up some elements himself, competing some before he moved to sports more popular among his friends.

Basketball was an early favorite, and he and his friends would ride bikes to area parks to play. By the time he got to high school, Engel was most interested in football, and some colleges were talking with him about possibly coming to play for them. Then his senior year, an ill-timed appendix removal cooled some of that interest, and he went on to community college.

It was during that time he went looking for competition. Finney was a well-known name around Engel’s part of St. Louis, so he found Finney’s gym.

It fit him. He was a two-time amateur national champion at different divisions, 172 pounds and 185 pounds. He then fought for an amateur world championship and lost by decision.

By then, he felt he could compete at a high level, and he became a professional fighter. He also saw limitations in where he could go in kickboxing. Boxing appealed to him, so he started training. Several years later, he moved into MMA, and the challenge for him now is switching between the two.

“MMA is way more accessible,” he said. “But they’re both things I enjoy doing. I’m just trying to balance that.”

Two worlds

In boxing, Engel has compiled many more fights, and he has learned some of the main differences in that sport.

For several of Engel’s fights, for instance, he has been booked as a perceived win for his opponent. In the boxing world, he said, piling up as many wins as possible while staying undefeated is the main goal, not necessarily impressing or beating notable opponents early on.

That’s where Engel has made some of his money, booked as an opponent for perceived up-and-comers, although he hasn’t always lost to the prospect as expected. In competing 26 times as a pro, he has taken plenty of hits, but they are different kinds of hits than he faces in MMA.

In MMA, with the smaller gloves, he faces easier cuts to his face. He obviously feels very competent and skilled in the standup game, and he has worked hard in other aspects with the appeal of the way MMA pays. In boxing, it’s a flat fee. In MMA, bonuses on fight nights are attractive.

MMA training partners and training opportunities are becoming much easier to find than in boxing. Many gyms have gone from karate or kickboxing training to MMA, which allowed him plenty of access to practice before he made his MMA pro debut, and he proved worthy.

In his June debut, he ended the fight in the first round with punches. His second fight, in July, ended the same way in the second round.

His third opportunity is coming this weekend with the hope of continuing his climb in MMA.

“The thing about MMA is you have to think more about defending yourself in every move you make,” Engel said. “You can throw a punch, but you have to think about what the guy will do to your legs. I’m working hard to get better at every part of it.”

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel pens “Fight Path” each week. The column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.